From $2B to $40B: Custora Study Shows Changes in Mobile E-Commerce

On July 9, Custora released its 2014 E-Commerce Pulse Mobile Report, analyzing the current state of mobile e-commerce and marketing. The report is based on data from over 100 online retailers, 70 million consumers and $10 billion in transaction revenue, as well as interviews from marketers, analytics professionals, and consumers.

Here are some of the highlights of the report:

Mobile has grown exponentially over the last four years.

In 2010, mobile e-commerce was a $2.2 billion market, with only 3.4% of visits to e-commerce sites coming from smartphones and tablets. Four years later, mobile e-commerce has grown to a $42.8 billion market (an 1875% increase) that boasts 36.9% of e-commerce site visits. Mobile is poised for further growth in 2014, with $12.2 billion in mobile e-commerce sales in Q1 alone. Mobile e-commerce sales are projected to hit $50 billion by the end of the year.

Mobile devices have a lower conversion rate and generate less revenue than desktops.

Despite accounting for 36.9% of all e-commerce site traffic, mobile devices only snagged 23.1% of online orders and 18.2% of revenue. Many consumers prefer to use their mobile devices for “showrooming” before buying from a brick-and-mortar store, or for browsing before making a purchase on a desktop with a larger screen. In addition, consumers who buy exclusively on mobile phones have a 22% lower Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) than consumers who buy exclusively on desktop computers.

Email marketing is more effective for consumers who purchase on mobile devices than for those who purchase on desktops. Email marketing accounts for only 20.9% of e-commerce sales on desktops, while it accounts for 23.1% of sales on tablets and 26.7% on smartphones. On mobile phones, nearly a third (32.9%) of revenue comes from direct traffic—going right to the e-commerce site rather than using a search engine. By contrast, paid search was the most effective marketing channel for tablets, leading to 24.8% of tablet e-commerce revenue (compared to 13.35% for phones and 18% for desktops). Social media fared the worst across all devices, accounting for 0.3% of revenue from desktops, 0.6% from phones, and 0.2% from tablets.

The full Custora E-Commerce Pulse Mobile Report can be downloaded here.

For more information about mobile marketing, Click here to learn about DMA’s Mobile Marketing Certification courses.